


Ideas

by AnotherTrashAccount



Category: Assassination Classroom, Undertale (Video Game), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: But I figure I better warn y'all just in case, Gen, I think that's enough tags, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Torture, Jeez that makes this sound dark, Much as I love it I can't write pure fluff for the life of me, Nothing explicit, Some of them are kinda fluffy though, Some of these can get pretty dark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:33:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28050972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnotherTrashAccount/pseuds/AnotherTrashAccount
Summary: I have a doc where I write down fanfic ideas that I come up with at school, and I know I'm never gonna write most of these, so I figured I'd share them. This is minimally edited and mostly impulse writing.Check the tags, some of the ideas are pretty dark.
Relationships: Pretty much everything in here is platonic
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	1. Assassination Classroom

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first I spent more than twenty words on. Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fighting Ring AU.

Class 3-E is trapped in an underground fighting ring, or something like that. Koro-sensei is their teacher, teaching them to navigate this horrible world. Koro-sensei is suspected of being the ring leader, so Karasuma is sent to infiltrate, and Irina was sent to assassinate Koro-sensei. They end up helping the class. The class never go full out against each other, as they have to live together and understand the value of their friendships. Ritsu and Itona were sent in by the government as well, to help take the place down. Itona was originally supposed to assassinate Koro-sensei but changed his mind when he realized that Shiro was lying to him the whole time. Koro-sensei teaches the Class E kids on normal subjects at every opportunity he gets. Yukimura died defending the class in the ring/arena.

The school hosts this place. Shiro runs the organization, Principal Asano runs the location and makes sure the students never discover the true fate of Class E. Gakushuu is suspicious of Class E's fate, as he has seen hints of the non-curricular activity and has seen certain patterns in terms of previous Class E's, but the Principal works hard to keep him from figuring out the truth. Kunugigaoka would be a boarding school in this situation, with off-campus dorms for the normal students. Class E lives in the old campus on the mountain.

Class E carries over into high school, but there is only one Class E at a time. It's a "look, we're so benevolent we'll allow these horrible students to leech off us" thing. They never quite get over what happened to them, even if the ring is taken down. Thanks to Koro-sensei, Class E's grades have improved, though perhaps not as dramatically as in canon. The other students at Kunugigaoka still treat Class E horribly, which does not help them at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this one's dark. Not gonna lie, no clue what I was thinking when I came up with it.


	2. Assassination Classroom/BNHA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A wild crossover appears!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that this is an apocalypse AU, meaning dark themes all around.

Assassination Classroom exists in the BNHA world, but their story is different, All For One and Shiro have teamed up to cause an apocalyptic world (zombies or demons, or something like that. Antimatter Nomu, maybe?) and the Assassination Classroom is a safe point, outpost, and fallback point for Kunugigaoka.

Class 1-A plus Aizawa, Yamada, Kayama, Ingenium, Hatsume, and Shinso (replacing Mineta) as well as Inko, Bakugo's parents, and All Might are the only survivors of the "U.A. Attack," the first move that All For One and Shiro made. Some remnants of Class 1-B got out, as well as Nezu, but they have since either split or died. Nezu went to see where he could help. Class 1-A and crew were doing that as well, but they are more "frontline fighters" and there is only so much they can do against hordes of Antimatter Nomu (final decision). They need a base to fall back to, as well as a place to take the civilians they rescued.

Class E, acting as a vanguard of sorts for Kunigigaoka, offer them the school for an alliance, which, after negotiating with the principal, is accepted. Koro-sensei is still alive, a "secret weapon" of sorts, and Karasuma and Irina are also sticking around. A lot of assassins have set up semi-permanent bases on the mountain, courtesy of Class E. It's the environment most of the assassins do best in, and the mountain has come to be referred to as "The Assassin Mountain." The individual assassins do have their own allegiances, but they have safe places and holdout points set up all over the mountain. As of yet, thanks to the antimatter-destroying material used for the "assassinate Koro-sensei" project, the antimatter Nomu have not breached the mountain. Kunugigaoka, at the base of the mountain, is equally well protected. It's a perfect base for the heroes to work from, as it is also on the edge of a large city (a.k.a. "Apocalypse Zone"). 

Citizens rescued and taken to Kunugigaoka are integrated into its community, which is good, considering the number of kids vs. adults that were there in the beginning. Isogai's mother and siblings are there, as is Nagisa's father, because they weren't caught in the initial wave of the apocalypse and managed to make their way to Kunugigaoka before the second wave came through. Everyone else's families didn't make it. Some of the main campus kids have family members who managed to make it to the school, but most of them don't. Civilians would sometimes stumble in, but when the heroes settled there, there was suddenly a fairly large influx of civilians coming in. Because of this, the school's nearly-forgotten basement is now in use.

Most of the people living in the main campus rarely venture onto the mountain, though the Class E kids make regular trips to the main campus. Gardens are being grown, and food is being raised. Before the apocalypse, Kunugigaoka was also known for turning out powerful heroes from its high school division hero course. However, it was still primarily a prep academy, and the heroes from there, while powerful and knowledgable about their own limits and usually willing to work to achieve more of their potential, are not many, as their hero course was relatively small. However, the physical education classes were integrated with the hero course, meaning most Kunugigaoka students, including those from the junior division, have at least basic fighting capability The Principal's quirk allowed him to prepare for this eventuality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some will be longer, some will be shorter. This is one of the shorter ones.


	3. BNHA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cats! Cat AU. This is so disorganized.

All the kids from 1-A and 1-B (and Tensei) are genetically engineered cats with human-like intelligence and life spans, grow at a human-like rate as well. Most of the other characters are human, quirks might or might not exist. My idea had Shigaraki somehow coming to possess all of them, plus a bunch of regular cats, as an abusive and neglectful cat hoarder, but then, one day, after Toga has come over to "play" with the cats, when she and Shigaraki leave they leave the door cracked open, and a heavily injured Tensei stumbles outside in a daze. Tenya chases after him when he collapses with Midoriya and Uraraka not far behind.

Hawks, who is walking by, sees this, helps Tensei and company back inside, and promptly calls the cops on the place.

The 1-A/1-B kittens are all like, super protective of each other since they've been through so much with only each other to rely on, and they're super wary of humans since, aside from the indifferent humans where they were born, they've only known Shigaraki and his friends, of whom Kurogiri is the best because he's entirely indifferent to them (unless they're trying to hide from one of the others behind him, in which case he flings them away or into whoever they're trying to hide from).

The normal cats are somewhat feral, but the genetically engineered cats are mostly just traumatized, and luckily, due to their... unique nature, the animal cops called in are able to recognize that. The Genetic cats end up in an animal shelter run by Nezu, with Aizawa and Kan assigned as their main caretakers. The 1-B kits are more attached to Kan while the 1-A kits are more attached to Aizawa, but they all gain a healthy amount of trust and respect for both their main caretakers, as well as their assistant caretakers (Kayama, Yamada, etc.).

Some of the other canon heroes sometimes volunteer at the shelter, including Hawks and All Might (no, he's not staff there, just a regular volunteer. He does a lot of charity work).

At one point, Toga tries to adopt the kits, but after seeing their rather bad reaction to her, Aizawa and Kan subdue her and escort her off the premises. Kurogiri doesn't want them back because he's reasonable and logical, so he refuses to help any of Shigaraki's friends get them in any way, shape, or form. Otherwise, healing fluff ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of these early ones are from, like... two years ago? Maybe? Also, most of these are gonna be BNHA, not gonna lie.


	4. BNHA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Street Performers AU. Kirishima and Dabi are an interesting dynamic to think about.

Kirishima, before he was adopted by his moms, before he became a U.A. student, even before he met Ashido - He was a street kid. He often raised money for necessities by playing guitar and singing under the nickname 'Shark', often dueting with a slightly older street kid who went by 'Flame'. (Creative, I know, don't sue me.) The duo was very popular and gained a lot of fans, with the enthusiastic, friendly Shark acting as a balance to the mysterious, somewhat surly Flame.

One day in what is Kirishima's second year of middle school, the two have a falling out. Kirishima wants to be a hero; Dabi hates heroes. There's a nice pair of women who are trying to convince Kirishima to let them adopt him; Dabi can't afford to be registered in the system. They part on bad terms, and Kirishima is found by his soon-to-be moms in tears while Dabi disappears into the slums, grinning to hide the pain in his chest.

Fast-forward to U.A., Dabi knows Kirishima is a student there because of the Sports Festival but he's pushed it to the back of his mind. Kirishima knows a villain with very familiar blue flames was there at the attack on the summer training camp but has pushed it to the back of his mind. It works right up until they find themselves across from each other on the battlefield (this was written before the PLA War arc was published, so I imagined just a random encounter here). They are very awkwardly avoiding eye contact and are doing their best to stay on opposite sides of the battle. It works, but as they're retreating they happen to catch each others' eyes and, well - there goes months/years of emotional repressing.

So, they both continued singing and playing the guitar in their free time, but it's not a hobby they talk about, so none of the people they're currently around know about it. It's kinda painful for both of them, because they saw each other as almost-brothers, and that fight was the last time they saw each other due to both of them getting swept up in other things. But performing... performing is still a comfort to both of them. Even when separate, they have both made appearances throughout the years. 

So, after that fateful little battle, Kirishima grabs his guitar and one of the beanies Shark is known for wearing and he goes out and performs not too far from U.A., which is how Aizawa catches him, which is how the rest of the class finds out. Dabi, meanwhile, grabs the special mask that he wears to conceal his face when performing, a rare find from his early days on the streets, and sneaks out to perform in the neighborhood where the current League base is. He's not very careful when he sneaks out because there's a reason he doesn't do emotions, so Toga, naturally, notices and follows, then calls the rest of the League to come watch, which is how Dabi is found out.

I didn't really have anything else on this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added some detail that wasn't in the original blurb because a lot of these early ones are really short, unfortunately.


	5. BNHA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Central Point AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the... unclear nature, I wasn't sure how to describe the quirk.

Midoriya has a quirk that basically makes it so that he's possessed by an alternate version of himself at any given time. Like, okay, not possessed, but like, their entire life's knowledge and memories and emotions and ideals and thoughts and everything are just kinda forced on him because of his quirk? And, like, he can learn to use their abilities an all that, but he has to _practice_ with them first, which isn't too bad with the similar skill sets, but then there are the days when he wakes up and it's a unique skill set and there's so much he's gonna cry. But, here's the thing, to practice this he has to 'tap into' the Midoriya whose skills/abilities he's using, and that kinda... makes their everything bleed over into him, and since he's the one taking the stuff, the 'real' him gets pushed to the background, and he develops, like, severe split personality.

Thing is, he doesn't have a choice in it because his quirk is _always active_ , he can't turn it off, just push it down so that he's not constantly filled with someone else's power. But every day he wakes up and there's a new 'him' inside his body, and that new 'him' is battling the 'real' him for control for the day, and while he can still control what he does, everything tends to be influenced by whatever 'him' is the newest or being actively drawn on, so, like, he hasn't had a chance to really develop his own personality beyond the multiverse of Midoriyas that exist.

Here's the thing, though, no one believes him about his quirk - they think it's a more simple copy quirk that temporarily copies the quirk of someone somewhere in their world, and they don't believe that he can't turn it off because he doesn't always get a quirk or quirk-like ability from the newest 'him' in his body. And the other Midoriyas aren't aware of this outside of, like, a tingle at the backs of their brains, because this Midoriya's quirk draws on the subconscious part of the brain and feeds over/copies everything from there. There are a few that are actively aware of him, but that's mostly ones with mental quirks or All For One.

The worst part is, he experiences _literally everything_ that they know, from their earliest memories to their current reality, _constantly_. Well, everything only once, when his quirk first connects to them, after that it's just their current reality, and everything means _everything_ , including emotions and pain.

So yeah, he’s a bit of a constant wreck, because it _just won’t stop_ , and he doesn’t know what to do with his life, so he ends up in Gen Ed at U.A., despite Bakugo’s threats (because of course Bakugo threatened him, something’s been up with him practically his whole life and he just knows the nerd’s gonna mess up his chances) and he kinda… tries to blend into the background. It works, for the most part. Then, when he wakes up with a ‘him’ who’s a particular nervous wreck (not that he can blame the guy, given his life, it’s just been a while since something like that’s happened), Shinso ends up catching him having a panic attack in a closet (mostly because Shinso was _also_ having a panic attack in that closet, but still). So when they’re both calmed down, they share their plights with each other. Shinso goes first, and Midoriya, in his current state, is like, ‘oh, that’s so bad, I don’t deserve to complain about mine,’ but Shinso won’t let him clam up, so eventually, Midoriya spills about his quirk and all the trouble it causes him and all of that… and Shinso actually believes him.

Shinso is the first person in his entire life to believe him, and Midoriya is so happy.

They become best friends after that - Shinso gets the encouragement (and training) he needs, while Midoriya gets a rock to anchor himself to in the absolute insanity that is his reality. They discover, through experimentation, that Shinso’s quirk does _not_ work on Midoriya because of the pain that he’s constantly in, but that even without it, he is _extremely_ good at helping Midoriya out of panic attacks. And with dealing with his identity crises. And his anxiety. And his paranoia. Midoriya actually reveals that there’s at least one Shinso out there who became the best therapist in the whole of Japan, and that he can definitely see how that came to be. Shinso just laughs and tells him he’ll take it up as a secondary job once he’s a hero, and Midoriya _beams_ , for perhaps the first time since his quirk manifested. As it turns out, though, Midoriya does have one psychological specialty - intrusive thoughts. He has _so_ many effective ways of dealing with them it’s not even funny.

So, like, the Sports Festival is very different this time around. Midoriya doesn’t participate _at all_ \- there’s just no physical way he could handle it, and besides, he doesn’t want to be a hero. He just wants to live as normal a life as he possibly can. So he’s cheering on Shinso the entire time. Shinso fights Todoroki, and he gives his version of the ‘it’s your power’ speech, which is a lot more blunt and sarcastic and long and drawn-out. Shinso doesn’t win the match, but he does come away with a potential friend and napping buddy. He also encounters Endeavor afterward and promptly flips the man off while moonwalking back the way he came. Shinso hides with Midoriya for the rest of the Festival.

So, like, with Shinso’s help, Midoriya’s ‘real’ self is slowly developing, to the point where he’s definitely got a personality that’s separate from the others, even if it’s often hard to differentiate. So Shinso asks if Midoriya would like a nickname. Midoriya, overjoyed, says yes, and Shinso asks if he’d like to pick it. Midoriya thinks about it, and then, for the first time in his life, makes a decision that’s completely his own, not one influenced by anyone else. He chooses the nickname Kyu. It’s a super profound moment, even if the name was based off a character in a pre-quirk era game (*cough cough*). It’s a struggle to get him out from under his quirk’s influence, though.

So, Aizawa goes to meet Shinso and offer the kid training, and the first thing the kid does after he’s accepted is ask, practically  _ beg _ , his new mentor to help this friend who’s been so kind to him but whose own quirk is  _ literally destroying his sanity and sense of self bit-by-bit no matter how well they build it up _ , and, well, Aizawa can’t exactly say no, can he? So he goes with Shinso to meet Kyu in their usual spot during lunch the next day, and after introductions, Aizawa offers to use his quirk to cancel Kyu’s. The kid looks so happy and agrees so quickly Aizawa just does it immediately. And for the first time in so long… Kyu is free. The relief and sheer joy pouring out of the boy (both physically in the form of tears and metaphorically in the form of aura) is so strong that a) it almost knocks Aizawa and Shinso off their feet (almost) and b) Kyu almost passes out. But he’s determined to savor this moment, so through sheer force of will, he doesn’t. Aizawa is concerned enough to bring it up to Nezu, and things kinda go from there. Just, slowly. Cause like. That boy physically cannot handle any more stress than he is already under, it’s a miracle his heart hasn’t physically given out yet. So yeah. Stuff happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kyu, Mimikyu - yes, I put thought into it, shut up! I debated leaving the bit about the nickname in, but eh - why not?


	6. BNHA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Overused, yes, but we can't all be original.

Before there were quirks, there were wings. Much like quirks, some had wings, and some didn’t, and every person’s wings were unique to them. They were always used as a way of judging others, especially since most people had wings. Fast forward to the time of quirks, and eighty percent of the population has a quirk, while ninety-five percent has a pair of wings. The wing statistic hasn’t changed since the beginning of humankind. If you don’t have a quirk, chances are, you at least still have wings. Being Quirkless is something to be sneered at for, and being Wingless is something that makes you an object of disgust. Being both? That’s a recipe for disaster. And disaster is exactly what it was for Midoriya Izuku.

When Izuku is thirteen, there's a bit of an... incident. Being both wingless and quirkless, Izuku's been dealing with abuse and discrimination from everyone but his mom since the diagnosis, but one day, some of his bullies go a bit too far. Some of Bakugo's lackeys, taking his idle wondering of 'I wonder how Deku would survive a fall down the stairs' to mean he wanted Izuku to be pushed down the stairs, pushed Izuku down the stairs with the intention of killing or seriously hurting him. Bakugo was the one who found them and called the ambulance, wracked with guilt over what he indirectly caused. The school didn't care beyond making sure the body wouldn't be their problem. Oddly enough, despite being a 'leader' among the bullies, Bakugo never crossed the line into physical abuse, keeping all his tormenting verbal. He's very conscientious of his record. This is the incident that gets his parents to put him in therapy.

Izuku is moved to home school, but he still wants to go to U.A., if only as a Gen Ed student. When Izuku gets accepted for U.A., he has a meeting with the principal about accommodations, because, you know, wheelchair. During the meeting, Nezu off-handedly mentions U.A. not allowing bullies in. Izuku asks if that means they let Bakugo in, and the Hero Course letters haven’t been sent out yet, because the Gen Ed test is like a week earlier than the Hero Course test, and the letters for Gen Ed arrive the day of the Hero Course test. The meeting occurs the day after the test, when they’re still recording the letters. Nezu says that, given the boy’s history (the others ratted him out), he will be rejected. Izuku pleads his case, and manages to convince Principal Nezu to let him in under strict watch (“Hero schools weren’t originally rewards. They were meant to prevent people with powerful quirks from becoming villains. And if he’s not guided right, he could make a powerful villain. At least if you take him in, you can oversee his education, and make sure he stays on the right path.”). 

After that, first day of school. Izuku is in Shinso’s class, and Shinso’s wings are very poorly cared for, because he’s had a bunch of horrible foster homes. At lunch, Izuku corners Shinso and passive-aggressively befriends him. After about a week, Shinso’s reluctantly letting Izuku preen his wings and help him care for them. Shinso’s wings are actually really big and fluffy once they’re groomed, which makes sense, because he often takes on a ‘protector’ role for the younger kids like him in his foster homes. Izuku also helps coach Shinso through some exercises he can do at lunch to strengthen his wings.

Izuku kinda… can’t participate in the sports festival, so he’s just cheering on Shinso, who gets first place in the obstacle race because he’s been practicing flying in enclosed spaces as much as possible. At lunch, Todoroki challenges Shinso in the hall, does his whole ‘backstory’ thing (the Cavalry Battle was replaced by Team Tag, Shinso’s team was canon Izuku’s). Shinso does his version of ‘it’s your power,’ which is a lot more sarcastic and bitter, by the way, and Shinso ends up losing to Todoroki but gaining the mentorship of Aizawa. Shinso and Izuku are, like, best friends, and Inko’s just happy her son has someone to support him.

After that, it’s a lot like canon, with Shinso taking Izuku’s place in a lot of the events. He's even brought along to the training camp because he keeps getting caught up in all this stuff, so they may as well make sure he can handle it. Eventually, Izuku’s introduced to 1-A, but he and Bakugo more-or-less avoid each other, even if their silent communication abilities have never faded, like ever.


	7. BNHA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reapers, part one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this one's a bit of a long one, and there's a lot of information. This first part will be technical information on the AU, the second part will be the actual story of the AU.

Reapers are a special type of being that work under Death themselves. Reapers are always born mortal, and given time to grow in the mortal world. When they die, they’re given full access to their powers and responsibilities. There are multiple kinds of Reapers, and not all of them have a deathly touch. Some of them even have the ability to project a calming aura! Izuku is one of the calming Reapers, also known as Shepherd Reapers. Essentially, they calm distressed souls to make the travel process easier and watch over the nicer afterlives to make sure no conflicts or anything arise. Their job is to calm souls and keep them calm. However, like all Reapers, they have scythes, and they know how to use them.

Unfortunately, Reapers aren't common in this day and age. And Reapers cannot have quirks, because of their genetic makeup, which leaves Izuku quirkless in this AU. When most people think ‘Reaper,’ they think, ‘death touch, bad, gonna die.’ This is because of misinformed individuals spreading incorrect rumors that turned into folklore and myth before people got smart, and even after people got smart, most people’s image of ‘Reaper’ was the stereotypical Collector Reaper - the only type of Reaper to possess an actual ‘death touch,’ and even then it couldn’t be accessed easily until they gained their full powers and responsibilities. So, yeah, people are very prejudiced against Reapers, mostly for the whole ‘Death’ association. Even in this day and age, when the Reapers are more busy than ever thanks to carelessness on literally everyone’s parts. Especially the Miracle Reapers, able to prevent an untimely death via healing abilities. Seriously, the poor Miracle Reapers need a break. Recovery Girl is a Miracle Reaper.

Reapers have 'mortal parents' who are the ones to give birth to them, but they are technically created by Death and thus Death's children. The mortal parent that ends up being the most involved in the process of raising the young Reaper is always someone who knows more about Reapers than what is considered normal thanks to the exposure of having a Reaper friend either at work or as a child. Reapers can not reproduce.

Reapers, by design, do not enjoy people dying. Unfortunately, fully-grown Reapers have a tough time interacting with the mortal realm, so it's up to the young Reapers who are still growing to minimize unnecessary death before they reach maturity. This also helps prepare them for their adult responsibilities, which vary by type.

Shepherd Reapers, as previously stated, are in charge of calming souls. A soul that is panicking and fighting the Reapers trying to transport it is a soul that is likely to get lost in the Veil between the different parts of reality. As such, their abilities are focused on calming distress and easing pain, which includes empathic abilities. They are also obligated by nature/design to help anyone they sense in distress. Shepherd Reapers typically take the longest to mature because they're the best of all the Reaper types at preventing unnecessary death. Izuku is a Shepherd Reaper. He's the only one in the Western half of Japan, mostly because there haven't been a lot of Shepherd Reaper births in the last few decades. All Reapers have universal Reaper abilities, but I'll cover those later.

Miracle Reapers are the only Reapers capable of healing. As adults, they typically deal with broken or damaged souls and other Reapers, though they can heal anything that can die. As mortals, they typically work as doctors and the like, bringing back those who are on the edge long before they should be. Miracle Reapers are always in high demand, especially since quirks have come along and thrown all the balances humans found out of whack. As stated earlier, Recovery Girl is a Miracle Reaper on the edge of maturing into adulthood, but there is at least one more in Musutafu alone.

Collector Reapers are the only ones with the 'death touch.' Their job is to sever the soul from the body, which can be an incredibly difficult process depending on the soul. Fully-grown Collector Reapers can interact with the mortal realm more easily than other Reapers, but only for the purpose of doing their job. As mortals, Collector Reapers often work in professions that give them lots of opportunities to interact with the dying without being relied on to save them. Many of them develop sadistic or emotionless personas to deal with it. Their abilities are actually focused on pain-numbing and speed-based fighting. Their job is to separate the soul from the body as painlessly as possible, but they're also called on to fight when Death needs their Reapers to protect their realm.

Ferry Reapers are the only Reapers capable of safely transporting souls across the Veil. They usually have some kind of transport to help them with taking large numbers, like a cart, or a boat, hence Ferry Reapers. The types of boats the Ferry Reapers who have boats use are called Charon Ferries, which may or may not be where the Greeks got ‘Charon the Ferryman’ from. As mortals, they often get jobs in transportation, and they are pretty much guaranteed to never have an accident. Their abilities are mobile- and vehicle-based protection abilities, as well as a 'locking' ability that allows them to essentially freeze someone in place.

Guardian Reapers are the most attentive Reapers, as well as the most capable of fighting a defensive battle against… non-mortal enemies. If Ida were a Reaper, he’d more than likely be a Guardian Reaper. Guardian Reapers guard the souls in Death's realm, as well as the realm itself. As mortals, they tend to go into professions related to guarding people. Their abilities are all protective and fighting abilities (i.e. creating a shield around someone and controlling a weapon telekinetically). They are the most fight-capable of the typical Reaper types.

Judge Reapers help sort the souls that are brought into Death's realm. They weigh the entirety of a soul's being to determine where the best placement for it will be. As mortals, they typically take up jobs as judges of various kinds. Their defining ability is known as Judge's Sight, an ability that allows a Judge Reaper to see the entirety of a soul that they look at, its every truth and whim, everything it was and currently is, with a special type of impartiality that allows for an entirely unbiased judgment to be made. Their other abilities are all related to truth-seeking and the sorting process. Naomasa could very well be a Judge Reaper, but if he is, he hasn't told All Might.

Messenger Reapers are just that- messengers. They run out-of-realm errands for Death, exploring the planes of existence and the realms of others like Death. As mortals, they take up jobs related to that, obviously. Their abilities are based around travel and speed, though one of their defining abilities is a type of telepathy far stronger and more precise than any mortal could hope to see known as Relay. They can travel freely between all realms, even the mortal one, though interacting with things depends entirely on the realm. They are vital to any mass movement of Reapers. Mandalay had an aunt who was a Messenger Reaper.

There's also a special type of Reaper known as a Warrior Reaper, only born when War visits the mortal realm. They work most closely with Guardian Reapers as their entire purpose is to fight. Guardian Reapers protect souls from the Veil and the Creatures from beyond the Veil, as well as any other realm-dwellers that would like to take advantage of them - Warrior Reapers are capable of taking the fight to the enemies. All their abilities are based around combat. As mortals, they always end up as soldiers. Because of the special circumstances surrounding their birth, they are the rarest type of Reaper.

All Reapers share some common abilities. These common abilities are Veil-piercing (teleportation/multiverse travel), levitation, soul-sight (a less intrusive - and less thorough - version of Judge's Sight), and item storage (essentially, they all have pocket dimensions where they store their sythes and whatever other tools they may have - the Ferry Reapers use this particularly often). They learn how to fight with a scythe and master their abilities as early as possible because Death's Reapers may be called upon to defend their realm at any time.

Reapers aren't exactly treated the best, so they do their best to blend in when possible. There are some who become well-known, but it's extremely rare for one to reveal their status as a Reaper. They themselves are infertile, but they can 'mark' someone as a good candidate for a mortal parent. The 'marked' parent does not have to be the one that gives birth. One of the responsibilities of young Reapers is, in fact, to 'mark' mortal parents to help with the whole 'creation of new Reapers' process. Death does not have any true control over this process - the most they can do is influence how many of each type of Reaper are born in each generation. The fact that 80% of the world has a quirk has lowered Reaper birth rates drastically, and Death may have to ask another for help with that problem eventually.

All young Reapers that live in the same area know each other. Each Reaper has a 'sphere of influence' - Shepherd Reapers' spheres reduce emotional turmoil, Miracle Reapers' increase healing, Collector Reapers' decrease pain from mortal injuries, Ferry Reapers' decrease travel accidents, Guardian Reapers' decrease attacks/damage from attacks, Judge Reapers' make it more difficult to lie, Messenger Reapers' make messages and travel especially smooth, and Warrior Reapers' make fighting easier, essentially. There's a natural radius to the spheres, which are a passive effect, but the radius can be increased by the Reaper going out and actively working for it, doing their jobs. Recovery Girl has a massive sphere of influence. Nezu loves having her on staff.

Young Reapers can travel to Death's realm, but it's not a 'pop over casually' type of thing, it's something they have to plan a trip for. They are, after all, still mortal at that point in time. Even Reapers can prematurely die.

On the note of things dying, despite what the inhabitants of other realms and planes will try to tell you, there are very few beings that actually can't die. Those with souls not already locked in a process such as reincarnation/recycling are also brought to Death's realm. It's just that most souls that enter that realm are from the mortal one.

Nomu have stitched-together souls made of multiple ones. They are abominations. Any Reaper who sees one immediately flies into a blind rage at this subversion of the natural order. All similar experiments are treated the same way. In order for a Nomu's soul to be safely transported and taken care of, a Shepherd Reaper and a Collector Reaper must work together to calm it and numb its pain enough that it can be separated from its body, the stitches can be removed, and it can be healed. The removal and healing process are dealt with after the soul has been safely transported to adult Miracle Reapers. The souls become visible and audible even to normal mortals if a young Reaper is taking care of the soul at the time. They are in constant agony.

Every Reaper who's ever met him has a special type of hatred for All For One.

Due to genetic makeup, quirks are automatically rejected by a Reaper's body.


	8. BNHA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reapers, part two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story side of the Reaper AU!

So, Izuku is the only Shepherd Reaper in the western half of Japan, which means there's a lot of things that fall under his jurisdiction that he physically can not tend to. He takes his job very seriously, and it makes him sad to know that all this stuff is going on that he would be able to help with, but he's only one being, he can't be everywhere. He first realizes this when he's three, which is the first time there's a suicide on the news that his instincts tell him his influence would have prevented, but it was too far away for him to have possibly made it there in time, since he couldn't Veil-travel yet. Of course, he was also three, which wouldn't have really helped. He decides to become a Pro Hero so that he can save as many people as possible.

Before U.A., Izuku goes out and does his job, expanding his sphere of influence, at every opportunity. He hates seeing people who are suffering, both as a Shepherd Reaper and as a person. The kids at school (aside from Katsuki) only know that he's quirkless, so they still bully him, but they're a fair bit calmer and more emotionally stable than they otherwise would be. Katsuki, of course, knows that Izuku is a Reaper and respects him for that, but still views him as a rival. It is a healthy rivalry, unlike canon.

So for years, Izuku's just doing his thing, going around and saving people as best he can while brushing off insults at school and training with his abilities in the meantime. The swan dive incident - doesn't happen. The sludge incident - doesn't happen. Actually, when he was ten, Izuku helped the guy that would otherwise be the Sludge Villain get a job at a cleaning company, ironically enough. The first time All Might sees the boy is at the U.A. Entrance Exams.

Now, All Might in this AU is one of the people who know, faintly, in the backs of their logical minds, that the Reaper stereotypes are wrong and that there's really nothing to fear regarding them unless you've messed with the natural cycle of Death, but are also so caught up in superstition and tradition that they believe the folktales over cold hard facts every time, just because their mothers said so. So he sees this kid running around the exam, mostly helping his fellow examinees and sometimes taking out robots with a piece of rebar, and he glances at the file and he sees 'quirkless,' and he's like, yes, this is successor material. However, literally right under the quirk section of the file is the part where it's listed that he is a Shepherd Reaper, but All Might, in all his Number One glory, completely and utterly misses it until it is explicitly pointed out to him by Nezu. When it is, he questions, out loud, if it's a good idea to let him into the school at all.

This is keeping in mind that every single staff member, upon being hired, is sat down and given 'Reaper 101' and informed that not only is Recovery Girl a Miracle Reaper, but Reapers are openly accepted into the school and there have, in fact, been several Reapers who graduated from U.A. since its founding, Recovery Girl included.

(All Might tuned most of it out.)

Around this time, as all the other staff are making rather pointed comments at All Might, the Zero Pointer is released. Uraraka gets trapped like in canon, but the robot is closer to her than in canon - there's no way anyone's gonna be able to lift that rubble and pull her out in time. This, obviously, is unacceptable for Izuku, who drops his rebar, summons his scythe, and Veil-travels up to the Zero Pointer's head, which he hits with all the protective-rage strength he's been granted. It crumples. After making sure it doesn't fall on anyone, Izuku goes down and uses his scythe to lift the rubble and pull Uraraka out. Time is called, and Izuku ends up giving a mini version of Reaper 101 to the curious examinees who have gathered around while they're waiting for Recovery Girl.

Izuku, obviously, gets in. He's placed in Class 1-A because he scored in the top ten during the exam - he's treated like any other examinee by literally everyone except All Might, who does not get a say in the exam grading process.

First day of school is pretty similar to canon, aside from Izuku being confident and Eraserhead asking him to keep his Reaper abilities secret so that he can have a bit of fun. Katsuki responds appropriately and is let in on the joke with a chuckle and small gesture in Aizawa's direction. The Battle Trial is rigged so Izuku will end up fighting Katsuki, but oops - that's not a problem here. The USJ, however...

Izuku is Insulted and Offended by the Nomu (four souls stitched together to keep it alive). He calls a Collector Reaper who lives nearby and just graduated high school (“Masaki-kun”), and between the two of them, the Nomu is quickly defeated. Masaki can’t touch the souls, though, because they’re kicking up such a fuss, so Izuku has to deal with it before Masaki can ‘collect’ the souls, and well… when a young, mortal Reaper, of any kind, interacts with the soul of someone who has died while they are physically in the mortal realm, the soul becomes visible to all mortals within eyesight. And audible. Yeah, it’s really grotesque, even Shigaraki is kinda grossed out.

So after Izuku calms the souls and separates them by cutting the stitches with his scythe, Masaki takes the souls to his Ferry Reaper friend who’s the same age as him (same school and everything) (Kichijouji), and Izuku Confronts Shigaraki. And he. Is. Mad. Shigaraki’s not even under his jurisdiction as a Shepherd Reaper anymore because, at this point, he’s beyond saving. Izuku physically can’t kill him, but, well. Shepherd Reapers aren’t called “Mother-Guardians of the Fields” for nothing. They can be terrifying when they want to be, though nothing quite matches up to a Miracle Reaper’s wrath. That’s how the rest of the class find out about what Izuku is.

By the way, Izuku called in Masaki when Kurogiri appeared to scatter the class, then subtly threatened Kurogiri and straight-up ditched to fight the Nomu. So Eraserhead was already down there, he takes care of the minor villains while Izuku deals with Shigaraki (because literally everyone, even Aizawa and Kurogiri, was transfixed by the four souls that were freakin’ stitched together to fuel the Nomu). So, the whole class gets a more thorough version of Reaper 101 when they return to class after the USJ. Shigaraki and Kurogiri still escaped, mostly because Izuku managed to use his Reaper Sight, or Soul Sight, to figure out the answers to his questions and had no wish to confront All For One at that particular moment in time. All of those secrets are revealed, like, waaaaaaaay earlier thanks to this, though. So, yeah! That’s about as far as I got.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have very... particular feelings about All Might. He's a fine hero, for sure, and he (sometimes) knows what he's doing in life, but I don't like him as a role model and mentor figure. He's so unabashedly horrible at both, and he's also pretty manipulative for a guy the fandom likes to characterize as sunshine incarnate. I mean, if his intentions in canon were anything less than what they are, the relationship between him and Midoriya would be very... very different. Accordingly, I like making AUs where he's not really exactly the most likable character. Exhibit A. Very rarely will my AUs involve Dad Might, I'm warning you now.


	9. BNHA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Civil War AU.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, this is not a Hero Class Civil War AU, though I did come up with this one while I was reading that.

The War has been going on for years. Villains form Liberators, from Meta Liberation Army, party that took over government. U.A. staff and other heroes form U.R.A., Underground Rebellion Alliance, all the rebels trying to free the country from the clutches of the Liberators. Classes 1-A and 1-B plus Shinso and Hatsume form Squad V, Commanders Aizawa Shota and Sekijiro Kan, lieutenants Kayama Nemuri and Yamada Hizashi, Tech Head Maijima Higari, Recon Leader Nara Toru (Snipe). The U.R.A. needs all the help it can get, which is why teens as young as the Squad V kids are involved in the War. They’re the youngest, though. There’s squads older than them and upcoming squads younger than them, as well as a whole slew of people who aren’t actively involved in the fighting.

In this world, your usefulness isn’t dictated by your quirk, but by what you can do with it, and what other abilities you have. Anyone can be an asset, which is why Midoriya, quirkless, was accepted when he declared his intentions to help the fighting squads of the U.R.A. All of the kids, even non-combatants, are taught basic self defense, quirked and quirkless, as well as how to use knives and guns. The fighting squads receive more specialized training, as they’re out in the field most often.

Hatsume acts as Maijima’s protege, creating equipment as well as assisting in the field. Shinso and Midoriya act as Aizawa’s proteges, learning his ways as well as forging their own. Sekijiro hasn’t taken on any proteges, Yamada took on Jiro and sometimes mentors Koda more closely, Kayama took on Monoma, Tokage, and Yaoyorozu, and Nara took on Hagakure and Shoji. The Commanders and lieutenants are in charge of training their units, and will remain in command of their units until something happens to change that. Midoriya Inko is second in command after Nezu, and she earned that spot not long after her son began his training. She’s also called the Mother of the Rebellion, for good reason. Midoriya Izuku is called the Face of the Rebellion, also for good reason. It’s very intense.

All the kids have scars, and they all carry weapons on them at all times. Squadmates don’t bother with formalities with each other. These kids all grew up in the War, and were either born into the Rebellion or taken in when their parents died, or otherwise decided to join. The Rebellion does its best to protect even uninvolved civilians, the Liberators… don’t particularly care, since they have control. The U.R.A. are hoping to make that lack of caring into the Liberators’ biggest mistake. _Very_ intense, urban fantasy style. Interaction between all units, with individual groups being closest.

As for a story... Squad V signal the end of the War. Their generation is the one that ends it. The story would start... probably after their first few missions, when they've established stuff and fallen into patterns, and only show stuff that happened before in conversations or flashbacks. It's a war, so that's what the story would focus on, but I don't have many specifics aside from there's a battle in the remains of an amusement park that is a turning point for the squad early on, and they're the most active fighting unit. Stain, I think, would be in the U.R.A., or one of their allies, but I see Endeavor as having been part of the U.R.A. before he was captured and turned into a Nomu. Dabi, in this AU, would be a spy, I think.

A lot of the villains would have different reasons than canon, so their allegiances might be different than canon. At the same time, there's several heroes who would have different reasons, and thus likely different loyalties, as well. I don't have a lot of specifics in mind, though. As for relationships... they do happen, naturally, but they're not the focus. They're far more common among the civilians than the squads. Within the squads, though, some do crop up on occasion, even if they tend to get set on the backburner. This AU's Uraraka and Kamakiri definitely have something going on, but they're too busy to put an actual label on it or anything like that. Doesn't stop them from feeling things, though.

Obviously, everyone's going to be OOC, because they lived very different lives. However, base personalities should remain the same - they are still the same people, after all, they just grew up in a war. Mineta in particular is likable.

Also, Shinso's totally the best of Squad V when it comes to hair stuff. Just saying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next one is... definitely one of my darkest. Fair warning.


	10. BNHA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pact AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, um... TW for suicide, mentions of neglect and abuse, and, um... yeah this one's just kinda really sad.

When Izuku was diagnosed quirkless, Katsuki didn’t turn his back on him because he was weak, or anything like that. As a matter of fact, when Izuku discovered the… mistreatment Katsuki was receiving at home a few days after his diagnosis, they made a pact. A suicide pact, among other things. They promised that if they were going to commit suicide, they would do it together. Izuku promised to let Katsuki take his frustrations out on him, and Katsuki promised to help Izuku find a way to become a hero.

The bullying Katsuki would do would be riddled with code phrases to act as a status update. Izuku’s responses would be much the same. They had a little spot they would go to when they needed help from each other. They would push each other to be better, to survive… but they were realistic. They knew that there was a chance future them would give up. So they promised that if they gave up, they would give up together. That way, even in their final moments, neither would be truly alone. They both remembered and carried this pact with them all the way to U.A.

When they got into U.A. they met up to adjust the code phrases so that it wouldn’t seem so much like bullying. Katsuki knew about One For All the moment Izuku accepted the deal. There’s very little they don’t know about each other, because they’ve been able to communicate silently since they were very young.

It seems like things are going well, and they’re well on their way to becoming heroes… then, one day after the school festival, things begin to go downhill. An encounter with Mitsuki leaves Katsuki shaken when he returns to the dorms. As he’s passing through the common area, he calls out, ‘Nerd…’ Immediately, Izuku stands, a worried look on his face, and follows Katsuki to his room. Once they’re there, Katsuki asks if Izuku remembers their pact. Izuku quietly sits next to him and asks if it’s time. Katsuki replies that if it isn’t yet, it’s very close. Izuku asks if he should begin making final preparations, and Katsuki replies with ‘better safe than sorry.’ Izuku nods, then quietly leaves.

After he sends Kirishima up with a warning that Katsuki doesn’t need to talk, he just needs company, he sits with his friends and allows his mask to break. Because here’s the thing. Izuku may not be suffering abuse at home, but his mother is nearly blind to his external suffering in her own wallowing in grief and pity. Even if the pact with Katsuki eases him on his friend’s behavior, none of the other kids were like that. Izuku’s only source of support was Katsuki, and they both know how messed up that relationship is. He’s been wearing a mask that portrays him as happy, if shy and nervous, for practically his whole life. The only times he truly allows it to slip are when he’s alone or when he’s alone with Katsuki. He has to fight not to give in every single day. He’s exhausted. It’s gotten a bit easier since he got One For All and became a student of U.A., he’s gained some more hope than the near-zero he used to have, but none of his friends truly understand him. Even when it’s visibly cracked, no one but Katsuki ever looks beyond the mask, ever _sees_ beyond the mask. And the hope he has is still minimal. He’s still beyond exhausted. His exhaustion can easily overwhelm his hope.

Katsuki’s in much the same boat, except his mask is anger, and he’s been isolated by the pedestal his peers and teachers put him on while his parents took to… uncaring means of parenting at home. He had a little more hope than Izuku, because his dream was never crushed by society, but oddly enough, the events at U.A. have brought his hope down to Izuku levels. Both of them are crumbling, and they both know it. It’s only a matter of time before something gives. And due to their past experiences, neither of them trust anyone around them enough to ask for help.

So, they both begin subtly making final preparations.

They pull through, things look like they might be okay for a few weeks, and they almost let themselves hope. Then… **it** happens. A villain kidnaps Katsuki again, this one more determined than the League to turn him. This villain does everything they can to break him, from psychological torture to physical torture, streaming it all live as proof that ‘the heroes aren’t coming to save you.’ At one point, the villain points the camera straight at his face (which is strangely blank) and asks, “Is it worth it, remaining a hero?” Katsuki meets the villain’s eye head on and says, entirely serious, years’ worth of pain in his voice, “I will kill myself before I become like the people who broke me. I will kill myself before I become someone who enjoys tormenting others, and I thank you for removing the last thing keeping me from fulfilling that promise.” Then he shuts up. He hasn’t screamed in a few hours, but now, he doesn’t make a sound, not even a grunt, no matter what the villain tries.

The only things Katsuki said before that were code phrases, knowing that Izuku was watching. Twenty minutes after Katsuki goes silent, the heroes arrive, having used Izuku’s translation of the phrases to locate him. The villain had him for twelve hours. When he gets back to the dorm after healing up, two days later, he’s not looking at anyone. His face and his eyes are both blank, hollow - broken, exhausted. His mask has cracked, and he doesn’t have the energy to bring it up anymore. When Izuku, who’s been harried and frazzled this whole time, steps into the room, that’s the first time Katsuki looks up. They meet eyes, and it’s really the first time anyone in the class has noticed they’ve got that silent communication thing going on. Izuku pauses, then smiles. It’s a very different smile from what the class has ever seen before. It embodies everything Izuku has ever been through, everything he’s ever felt, all the pain, rage, hurt, despair, hope, despair, pain, despair, hurt he’s ever felt. It’s shattered glass rearranged into something passable from a distance, but full of sharp edges and pieces that don’t fit up close. It’s the smile of someone who’s given up and doesn’t know what else to do.

It’s the first time he’s let go of his mask around the class, his exhaustion finally catching up to him. A small, tiny smile appears on Katsuki’s face, the most genuine smile anyone in the room has ever seen him wear, but he lowers his head again before anyone but Izuku and Kirishima, who were watching him when it appeared, notice. No audible words are exchanged between the two.

Izuku goes to his room while Katsuki remains swaddled on the couch. That night, final preparations are arranged. The next day, people are trying to get either boy to talk to them, but they’re both oddly unresponsive. They’re also staying oddly close to each other. There’s none of the normal anything between them, just a sad understanding and resolute relief that was always covered up before. That evening, Izuku gives homemade pastries to all of his classmates, Monoma, Shinso, and Hatsume. He also offers one to Aizawa, but the hero turns it down. Izuku still hasn’t said a word all day. Everyone’s very confused and worried. That night, Katsuki sleeps in Izuku’s room.

The following morning, they’re gone - they snuck out and went to their spot, a nice little clearing in the woods near their elementary school, and killed themselves. They left a notebook on Izuku’s bed explaining everything - their pact, their wishes, their reasons, even, in a section carefully marked specifically for the recipients of the pastries, everything about One For All, which Izuku gave to the people who ate his pastries. They had his blood in them, well-disguised but not quite drowned out. He wanted One For All, at least, to live on, so he gave it to as many people as he knew would use it well.

This, in the end, sparks a revolution, and an overhaul of the hero system, the government, and their country’s way of doing things in general. This revolution is spearheaded by their classmates. In memory of Bakugo Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku, the Brothers of Pain, the whole world was rebuilt from its roots.

Alternate ending: Late that night, Aizawa was talking about his two students’ behavior with Yagi. Mirio, who was also in the room, heard that Midoirya had given Aizawa a pastry seemingly out of nowhere. A bad feeling grew in his gut. He hadn’t been paying attention before, but he certainly is now. He asks Aizawa to reiterate Midoriya’s behavior. When the teacher obliges, Mirio pales, then bolts from the room. He recognizes that behavior from when Tamaki almost committed suicide himself.

There was an odd moment after they lost Eri for the first time, when he heard Midoriya whisper, “Maybe I should enact the pact with Katsuki.” Mirio knew he wasn’t meant to hear, but that moment had always sent up blaring alarm bells in his head. He’d done his best to keep an eye on his junior after that, but clearly he didn’t do a good enough job.

He tears into the 1-A dorms, Aizawa behind him asking what’s wrong. He doesn’t even ask where Midoriya is, just bolts up to his room, not even bothering with the elevator. He rips the door open and flicks on the light, and sure enough, the bed is empty aside from some pillows and blankets arranged to look like two humans. Mirio curses, spotting a notebook laying out in the open on Midoriya’s desk. Aizawa is demanding to know what’s going on, he’s never seen Mirio in this kind of state before, and the rest of Class 1-A is beginning to gather, attracted by the commotion.

Mirio finds the location in the notebook, written down so their bodies could be found. He turns to Aizawa, points at the location in the notebook, and says, “We need to go there, now. We will lose them if we’re too late.” Aizawa’s shaken, but he agrees. They get to the edge of the wood, and Mirio tears off, desperate not to fail his juniors.

He finds the clearing because Midoriya and Bakugo were singing one last lullaby together, something they used to do to calm each other down. Mirio arrives just as they swallow the pills, and they’re already taking effect. They look over, surprised, and Midoriya opens his mouth, “Togata… senpai?” When Aizawa catches up, both of his students are unconscious and Mirio is moving as fast as he can. “Call an ambulance. Now.” 

Aizawa, finally understanding the severity of the situation, does immediately. They get to the edge of the woods just as the ambulance arrives. It’s very close - both boys flatline for a couple of seconds - but in the end, they found them just in time. They were able to pump the poison, a special concoction Midoriya and Bakugo made together, just in time to save the boys. However, it was very dicey for a while, and there was a lot of nerve damage due to the nature of the poison. It’s unclear if either of them will ever make a full recovery.

As Aizawa and Mirio are sitting in the waiting room, waiting for Midoriya Inko and the Bakugo parents to arrive, Mirio’s curled around the notebook, tears dripping down his face. Aizawa, shaken, asks Mirio how he knew. “In my last year of middle school, my best friend, Tamaki, gave up. He’s had social anxiety his whole life, and in middle school he developed depression. He… I found him just before he stepped off the chair. God, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything scarier in my whole life. After that, I did a ton of research, trying to figure out how to help him… the way you described them, it reminded me of him, when he’d given up. And the first time we found Eri, when we had to let her go, I- well, I know I wasn’t supposed to hear it, but I- I heard, heard Midoriya whisper something about, about a, about a pact with Bakugo, and I hoped, I hoped I was, was wrong, but I tried to keep an, an eye on him, on them, but, but clearly, clearly I, f-failed…” and he breaks down, sobbing. Aizawa does his best to comfort him.

Eventually, they turn to the notebook, which their guts tell them holds the answers they need. Mirio admits that he was only looking for a location, so he didn’t really register anything of the first few pages he skimmed. There was an entire page at the beginning dedicated to describing their spot. They read it, and… god, Aizawa feels stupid for never having noticed any of this. Mirio has to call Tamaki, he’s too incoherent after the first few pages. By the time Midoriya Inko and Bakugo’s parents have arrived, Aizawa’s seriously considering barring them from seeing his students.

The doctors are able to save the boys, but they’re both in a coma. Using the notebook as evidence, Aizawa has Midoriya Inko arrested for child neglect and the Bakugos arrested for child abuse. He’s careful to remove the section about One For All, since it specifically states that that part is a secret intended only for the indicated recipients, but after that, he lets a trusted source publish the notebook - again, as per the instructions left in said notebook. News of this, along with copies of the notebook, spread all over the world, and again, there is revolution, there is change, again spearheaded by the recipients of One For All - but this time, everyone who’s ever lost someone to suicide takes a very active role in helping.

In the original ending, the notebook wasn’t published in full, only in parts, because Aizawa wasn’t entrusted with it, despite explicit instructions. This time, Aizawa was entrusted with it, and many people rally around the cause. Many heroes, as well, join, because the hero community lost two upcoming greats to this, and the things discussed in the notebook affect them more deeply than most civilians. Change comes, and the world is better for it.

As for Bakugo and Midoriya? They can never be the heroes they once dreamed of being, so long ago in a haze of innocent childhood days, but they do get better. Both are permanently paralyzed from the waist down, and both have a long, tough road to recovery, but in the end, they graduate U.A. with genuine smiles and the brightest eyes they’ve had in a long time, no masks in sight. Because they did it. They may not be able to fight crime anymore, but in the end, they helped so many more people than they ever could have on the streets, and they helped people that the hero system wouldn’t have let them look at otherwise. In the end, they were heroes, to many. And to them, that’s all that matters. A distant childhood dream, thought long lost to the haze and corruption of time, in the end, polished and lived out in the most unexpected of ways. Honestly, I personally prefer this ending just because I like there being hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Yeah, I dunno what really possessed me to write this one. Next one is much lighter!

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to use 'em, just credit me and let me know so I can read it.


End file.
